ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – West Indies captain Darren Sammy said yesterday his side would be going all out to win the Test series against New Zealand starting here tomorrow.
Coming on the heels of the domination of the Twenty20 and one-day series, Sammy said the Windies were confident of continuing their winning trend
“Everything we do is geared towards winning. We did it in the Twenty20s and the ODIs and we’re looking to do the same thing in the Test series,” Sammy told reporters here.
“The two teams are evenly matched … both teams will be playing to win and we will do everything to achieve that (a win).
“We as a team we want to win. We’re going to play to win. We’re going to be competitive out there and win the key sessions like we did in the one-day series and look to win in the Test matches.”
West Indies swept the T20 doubleheader in Florida before winning the five-match one-day series by a 4-1 margin. While he noted that these results had given West Indies a lift ahead of the series, he was quick to point out that Test cricket would require a different approach. “I think [winning the preceding series gives us] more momentum if anything,” Sammy stressed.
“The guys played well but it’s a different format and Test cricket requires a lot of patience and focus and that’s what we have to go out there and do.”
He added: “There are some guys coming back like Chris (Gayle) who have not played for a long time. Our opening position has been a spot of bother for us but with the experience back there hopefully we could see off the new ball and put a good total. “We back our bowlers to come back and defend it and get 20 wickets for us.”
West Indies have not won a Test series against a top eight ICC side since they beat England 1-0 in a five-match series in the Caribbean three years ago.
Only this year, they went down 0-2 to Australia in a three-Test series despite challenging the visitors in every game.
Sammy said his side would be looking to change this losing streak.
“We haven’t won a (Test) series at home for a long time. We’re playing some good cricket at the moment and we will go into this series looking to win,” he said.
